Process and system for measuring axle and bearing temperatures
First Claim
1. A method for measuring axial and bearing temperatures to locate hot wheels in a vehicle adapted for traveling on a rail by using an infrared receiver with an oscillating scanning beam oriented transverse to a longitudinal direction of the rail, said process comprising the steps of:
- measuring a wheel element temperature with said infrared receiver to obtain at least two sets of measured values, each value in said at least two sets of measured values representing the temperature of a sub-area of said wheel element;
digitizing said at least two sets of measured values to obtain at least two sets of digitized values;
repeating said measuring and digitizing steps over at least one of;
a predetermined number of oscillations of said scanning beam; and
the duration of a wheel element signal indicative of a given wheel element being within range of said scanning beam; and
generating a set of average values wherein each of said average values is equal to the mean of corresponding values in said at least two digitized sets of values;
providing the largest average value of the set of average values as a hot spot indicator;
wherein said measuring step is performed in synchronization with an oscillation frequency of said scanning beam.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a process for measuring axle bearing temperatures in order to locate hot wheels in moving railroad cars with infrared receivers and with an oscillating scanning beam that is oriented transversely to the longitudinal direction of the rail, the analog measured values from the infrared receiver are digitized and then coupled with the oscillation frequency orientation of the scanning beam so that at least two complete oscillations of the scanning beam are analyzed for each axle. A mean value is formed from the measured value corresponding to one sub-area of a first oscillation of the scanning beam and from the measured value that corresponds to subsequent oscillations of the scanning beam. When this is done, the calculation of the average or mean value is repeated for a specific predetermined maximum number of oscillations of the scanning beam and for as long as an activation signal initiated by the wheel signals from the same axle is within the measuring angle of the center. For each calculation, the highest mean value of the measured values of corresponding sub-areas is evaluated.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for measuring axial and bearing temperatures to locate hot wheels in a vehicle adapted for traveling on a rail by using an infrared receiver with an oscillating scanning beam oriented transverse to a longitudinal direction of the rail, said process comprising the steps of:
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measuring a wheel element temperature with said infrared receiver to obtain at least two sets of measured values, each value in said at least two sets of measured values representing the temperature of a sub-area of said wheel element; digitizing said at least two sets of measured values to obtain at least two sets of digitized values; repeating said measuring and digitizing steps over at least one of;
a predetermined number of oscillations of said scanning beam; and
the duration of a wheel element signal indicative of a given wheel element being within range of said scanning beam; andgenerating a set of average values wherein each of said average values is equal to the mean of corresponding values in said at least two digitized sets of values; providing the largest average value of the set of average values as a hot spot indicator; wherein said measuring step is performed in synchronization with an oscillation frequency of said scanning beam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for measuring axial and bearing temperatures to locate hot wheels in a vehicle adapted for traveling on a rail by using an infrared receiver with an oscillating scanning beam oriented transverse to a longitudinal direction of the rail, said system comprising:
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means for measuring a wheel element temperature with said infrared receiver to obtain at least two sets of measured values, each value in said at least two sets of measured values representing the temperature of a sub-area of said wheel element; means for digitizing aid at least two sets of measured values to obtain at least two sets of digitized values; generating means for generating a set of average measured values wherein each of said average measured values is equal to the mean of corresponding values in said at least two sets of digitized values; repeating means for operating said generating means over at least one of;
a predetermined maximum number of oscillations of said scanning beam; and
the duration of a wheel element signal indicative of a given wheel element being within range of said scanning beam; andoutput means for providing the largest average value of the set of average values as a hot spot indicator; wherein said measuring means operates in synchronization with an oscillation frequency of said scanning beam. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification